Basketball On The Internet.

THIS past Sunday, the Seattle TIMES had a piece on NBA legend Bill Russell that our US correspondent BOB CRAVEN was sure B.O.T.I. readers would enjoy. raven had some bits I’m sure you’ll like. When Russell coached the Seattle Supersonics in the mid-1970s, he wrote a column occasionally for the TIMES. Here are some of his gems, courtesy of Bob.

IN the interests of brevity and clarity, I have summarised and paraphrased a handful of comments from some of those columns.

Q—Please explain the benching of John Brisker, even after you said, “we need his firepower.”

Russell—We do need the firepower he has, but we need more.  Most people don’t realise that most games are won on defence, no matter the sport.  And the reason I haven’t played John is that he hasn’t played defence the way I want it played.

(Bob: Plus, nobody knew that eventually Brisker would disappear somewhere in Uganda, never to be seen or heard from again.  There were strong and persistent rumors he had somehow managed to offend Uganda’s dictator, Idi Amin Dada, and Amin had Brisker thrown to the crocodiles in the Nile (or one of several other rivers). Tis is what Amin used to do to people he didn’t like.  Those same rumors noted that the crocodiles along that stretch of the river were noticeably very well fed.)

Q—Why don’t the Sonics follow their shots, particularly Spencer Haywood?

Russell—That’s a question I’ve been asking every day in practice.

Q—Do you think Kareem is better than you were?  I think you are.

Russell—I never argue with people who write me nice letters.

Q—What about females refereeing in the NBA?

Russell—I think we need good female referees because incompetence should not be confined to men.

One person wrote a long, rambling multipart comment to Russell, basically saying that he was not a complete player, was not a good head coach, and was otherwise lacking in several other areas.

Russell—Re being a complete player, you were right in one sense.  I did have one major problem as a player:  I had bad hands because I have 11 championships and only 10 fingers.  As for coaching, I have now coached five seasons and have only won two championships.  As for the other things you said, I have to get out a dictionary first … but I’m impressed with the vastness of your vocabulary.

Finally, in keeping with the Boston Celtics and the connection to those dominating years in the 1950s and 1960s, today (August 9) is Bob Cousy’s birthday.  Cooz is 94.